Calvary Church is
dedicated to doctrine, and we want you to experience
the life change that comes from knowing God's word
and applying it to your life. So we explain the
Bible verse by verse, every chapter, every book. This is Expound. Good evening, good folks. [APPLAUSE] You know, you really are
the exception to the rule. It says in the Scriptures,
in the last days that people will not endure sound doctrine. So what I love is that you make
it so easy to come to church and to teach the Word
because you love God's Word and you love coming midweek. [CHEERS AND APPLAUSE] Tomorrow is the
National Day of Prayer. Our nation needs prayer,
our world needs prayer. So as the National Day
of Prayer, historically we've always gotten involved
in something in the community or something locally. So tomorrow on
Instagram or Facebook throughout the day, our
pastoral team, all of us will be leading through specific
prayer points for a few minutes at the top of each hour. You could grab a friend, or 10,
and you could tune into that. Or you could just pray with
them in your neighborhood, in your place of work, school,
family, whatever it is. But tomorrow is a
National Day of Prayer. Though we should pray every
day, we make a concerted effort to specifically pray
for a variety of things that we will be hosting
on those two platforms-- Instagram and Facebook. Also if you happen to be in the
vicinity of downtown tomorrow at noon, some of us
will be gathering there for a time of prayer outdoors at
the Civic Plaza at 12:00 noon. So you are welcome
to join that as well. Let's turn in our Bibles to
the book of Romans, chapter 14. Come on. We're getting close. Somebody once said
that a man wrapped up in himself makes a
very small package. There are millions
of tiny packages out there, people all
wrapped up in themselves, in their own world,
in their own rights. What's in it for me? Don't you recognize who I am? All of that business. A man wrapped up in himself
makes a very small package. When it comes to the
Church, the body of Christ, a group of not perfect,
but redeemed people, and when it comes to
dealing with one another, we ought to be willing
to give up our rights, give up our status to be able
to provide unity in the Church. I remember years ago-- and I got a little clip
of it for this evening-- I remember reading a little
piece by Karen Mains called "The Brawling Bride." It was a parable,
"The Brawling Bride." And in this parable, it's
at the most climactic part of the wedding ceremony. Everybody is in place, the
families are all seated. The groom and the attendants
are all waiting up in the front. The bridesmaids have
come down the aisle. The minister's up
front, Bible in hand. And then the song
starts, dum, dum-da dum. And everybody stands. All the eyes look toward
the back of the room where the bride is
coming down the aisle. And when they see her,
everyone lets out a gasp. [GASP] everyone
in the crowd says. Because the bride is limping. Her gown is ripped,
it's covered with mud. One of her eyes is
purple and swollen. Her hair's all messed up. And in this parable,
the groom is Christ. The bride is the Church. And Karen Mains, who writes this
parable, "The Brawling Bride," says toward the end
of that, doesn't He deserve better than this? His bride, the Church
has been fighting again. In chapter 14, the
apostle Paul addresses how we get along with each other
by preferring one another even though we have knowledge
that it's OK for us to get involved in
certain activities that we would call "gray areas." it's not black. It's not white. It's not you shall do
this, or not do this. It has to do with
days to worship. It has to do with
dietary regulations. And somebody might say,
well, I know better and I have knowledge. I'm more educated. That's not a big deal. But not everybody
has that knowledge. Not everybody is as
bright as you are. So what you need to do, being so
awesome and mature, and so far along in your faith,
and so highly educated in spiritual things, knowing
that you need to mix that, temper that with love. Because you're dealing
with the Bride-- the Bride of Christ. I found an alarming set
of polls a while back said 61% of the American
public-- that's about 3 out of 5-- says that the
chief purpose of life is enjoyment and
personal satisfaction. That's the chief end of life. That's why I'm here, that I
might enjoy myself and find personal pleasure. Well, that didn't
surprise me as much as the next part
of the statistic. 50% of those who said they
were born again Christians said the chief end of
life is personal enjoyment and satisfaction. Well, once again,
a person wrapped up in himself makes a
very small package. When you get that going in a
church, it can be detrimental. So in chapter 14, Paul has said,
none of us lives to himself or dies to himself. We live and die to the
Lord for we are the Lord's. Now let's just pick
it up in verse 12. So then each of us shall give
account of himself to God. Therefore, let us not
judge one another any more, but rather resolve
this-- not to put a stumbling block or a cause
to fall in our brother's way. You and I, rather than
putting stumbling stones in our brothers
and sisters' way, we should be putting
stepping stones in their way. Stepping stones so
they can mature, not stumbling stones so
that they will fall and get tripped up. But we should lead
them toward maturity. So how do we do
that practically? Well, Paul will say,
the law of love. It is love that balances
out your liberty in Christ and your knowledge of what
you can and cannot do. You say, well, I have the
freedom to do this or that, or listen to that
kind of music, or get involved in these activities. OK fine, he will say. I'm glad you have
that knowledge. I'm glad you are persuaded. But keep in mind-- people who do not share
your value system. Keep in mind there
are, what he calls, the weaker brother,
the weaker sister. They have their own scruples,
their own sensitivities toward things. We have to watch out for that. So if you have the freedom
to listen to a certain kind of music, you appreciate it. You love the chord changes. You love the complications
and the intricacies. And yet somebody else
is over at your house and doesn't share
the same appreciation for it, but even
thinks that it's wrong for them as a
believer to listen to that certain type of
music, whatever it could be, if you go to your
stereo and say, really, well, listen to this. Turn it all the way up to 10. Well, is that love? No, that's love for yourself. That's a man wrapped
up in himself, making himself a
very small package. If you have the freedom,
he will say, to eat meat, have the diet you can
eat anything you want to. But that person says, oh
man, I have a problem. I'm a vegetarian. And not only that, but
let's go back 2,000 years. The meat that you
have on your table was sacrificed to an idol in
the temple down the street. Well then, love would say, OK,
I'll just put it away then. I won't do it. So you could go through a number
of these kinds of activities. And he will say that
liberty and knowledge must be balanced with love. I know-- verse 14-- I know and am convinced
by the Lord Jesus that there is nothing
unclean of itself, but to him who considers
anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean. Yet if your brother is
grieved because of your food, you are no longer
walking in love. Do not destroy with your food
the one for whom Christ died. Now today, there are no
ceremonial dictates as to what you can and can't eat. There's nothing in
the New Testament that says you can't have
certain types of food. There are no dietary
restrictions for us New Testament
believers as there were for the Jewish people
in the Old Testament under the Old Covenant,
under the law of Moses. Eating or not eating won't
make you closer to God. It can give you
heartburn if you eat it. It can make you
fatter if you eat it. It can make you
unhealthy or healthy depending on what it is you eat. But it won't make
you closer to God. So though you have
knowledge, and you are persuaded that
certain things are OK, Paul again makes the case
the law of love must prevail. And that's just not in Romans. That's also found in
Corinthians, we will see. It's also found in Philippians. He will say, let
nothing be done-- Philippians chapter
2, let nothing be done with selfish
ambition or conceit, but in loneliness of mind,
let each esteem others better than himself. I'm going to esteem you more
important than my liberty at this point. I'm going to place your
sensitivities as a higher value than what I have the
freedom, what my rights are as a citizen, to do. So this is a gray area. Let's go on. I'll get to it. Therefore, do not--
verse 16-- let your good be spoken of as evil. For the kingdom of God
is not food and drink, but righteousness, peace
and joy in the Holy Spirit. It's about being right with
God, doing the right thing for each other. It's bringing peace among
brothers and sisters. It's spreading out the joy
when we gather together. That's the kingdom of God. For he who serves
Christ in these things is acceptable to God
and approved by men. Therefore, let us pursue the
things which make for peace and the things by which
one may edify another. Do not destroy the work of
God for the sake of food. All things indeed are pure. But it is evil for the
man who eats with offense. Now look at the first
part of verse 20. Do not destroy the work of
God for the sake of food. The Living Bible says,
don't undo the work of God for a chunk of meat. And you could
translate that out. You could extrapolate that out. Don't undo the work of God
for a cigarette or a cigar. Don't undo the work of God
for a beverage of your choice, an alcoholic beverage. If you know somebody there is
going to take offense to it and be stumbled by it-- oh,
but they're weaker people. I'm stronger, I'm more mature. In your advanced maturity,
add love to that. Why destroy the work of
God for a chunk of meat? Think of God working
in a person's life. Think how amazing that is that
the God of heaven and earth would work in a human
being so that He might work through that human being. So He does a work. And the Bible says
in Ephesians 4, we are His workmanship
created in Christ Jesus to do good works. We're His workmanship. We're His pallet. We're His work of art,
one translation says. We are His workmanship. So no one would in
their right mind would think of taking a
Rembrandt and defiling it. No one would walk up
to a Rembrandt painting go, you know, I'm going to put
a little stick man right here. Watch this. Draw a little stick man right
here in that Rembrandt picture. You'd be handcuffed,
and taken to jail, and hauled before a court. Nobody would think
about doing that to a Rembrandt or a Van Gogh. Or what if you decided to take
a Stradivarius violin and say, I'm going to put electric
guitar pickup on it? To deface and defile
something that is that valuable as a work
of art is incomprehensible. How much more so than to
take a human being, made in the image of God, redeemed
by the blood of Jesus Christ, a brother or sister
on their way to heaven, in whom God is
working His work in? Don't destroy that just
because you have rights and you have freedom. Don't destroy the work of God. Don't undo the work of
God for a chunk of meat or for the sake of food. All things indeed are pure. But it is evil for the
man who eats with offense. it is good neither to eat meat,
nor drink wine, nor do anything by which your brother
stumbles, or is offended, or is made weak. Do you have faith? Have it to yourself before God. Happy is he who does not condemn
himself in what he approves. But he who doubts is condemned
if he eats because he does not eat from faith. For whatever is not
from faith is sin. In this case, the rule of
thumb is let your conscience be your guide. Now be careful with that. I'm not saying that when it
comes to all matters of faith, let your conscience
be your guide. Because your conscience
can be wrong. It can be warped. It can deceive you. But when it comes
to gray areas-- not black and white issue--
you can't say, well, you know, when it comes to the deity
of Christ, my conscience is-- I don't care what
your conscience is on that issue, frankly. But when it comes to
eating meat, or worshipping on certain days, or
certain types of music, or your freedom to imbibe in
certain drink with your wife at a meal, that's up to you. That's let your
conscience be your guide, and have faith,
and act in faith. But when there are other
people observing you, that's where liberty
and knowledge must be balanced with love. So think of it this way. When a child is born into a
home, everything in that home changes. Every one in that house changes. Maybe you had the habit
of leaving the scissors on the coffee table in the
living room in times past. Not anymore, you don't. You put that away. You cover up light sockets. You nail things on
the wall so they don't move as that baby
turns into a toddler. And you put things away
for the sake of love. Now as that child grows from
toddlerhood to young childhood, to adolescence, et cetera, you
will ease those restrictions and give that person
more responsibility. But at first, you are
considering the weakness of that tender child. And you're saying
that life is vital. It's important. I can't exercise the same kind
of freedoms I had in the past. That's because you love them. Or imagine a child
afraid of the dark. And mom says, sweetheart it's
time for you to go to bed. And little Johnny goes,
I can't go to bed, there's a monster in my room. Come on, there's no
monster in your room. I have knowledge. I'm persuaded. I know better than you do. I'm an adult. There's no
monsters in your room. There is. He's under the bed
and in the closet. Now would a mother drag her son
into the room, say, go to bed? Well, only a dumb one would. Anyone smart would turn on
the light, open the closet, look under the door, and
say, the monster's gone, must be in my room tonight. I'll take care of him. OK, mom. You take care of him. I'll take care of him. Daddy will get him. Or she might say, daddy is him. I don't know. [LAUGHTER] But she will consider
the weakness of the child and act in love. We then-- verse 1 of chapter
15-- we then, who are strong, ought to bear with the scruples,
the sensitivities of the weak and not to please ourselves. It's not about you. It's not about your rights. It's not about what you can do. What about me? Let each of us please
his neighbor for good, leading to edification. For even Christ did
not please Himself. But as it is written,
the reproaches of those who reproached
you fell on Me. Here Paul is quoting the 69th
Psalm, a Messianic Psalm, a Psalm that predicts the
suffering of the coming Messiah, hundreds of years
before Messiah was born. Psalm 69, a very
notable Messianic song. So he is quoting that, "the
reproaches of you fell on me." The point he is
making is that even Jesus when he lived
His life didn't live His life with His own
rights in mind, with his own my own personal
passion in life is-- my own pursuit is. He lived knowing that there
were others around Him, and he lived for others. In fact, He lived to
please His Father. He said, I always do those
things that please the Father. It was Jesus who
said, the Son of Man did not come to be served. The Son of Man came
to serve and to give His life a ransom for many. Think of how Jesus pleased
others, served others, how He would teach crowds
long into the night, long into the evening. Sometimes He would
be doing miracles and sometimes teaching. And when His family came
to see Him, they realized, He's not even
taking time to eat. He was serving others, He
was thinking about others. How He saw people with an
infirmity and healed them. How at the Last Supper, He
washed His disciples' feet, taking the role of a servant. And then not only
taking the role of a servant at the Last Supper,
but He knew within a few hours, He would be dying on a cross. So He was the one suffering, He
was the one who would suffer. He was already feeling
the brunt of that. He said, now my soul is
overwhelmed with sorrow, He said to His disciples. And yet, He is thinking of
others at that Last Supper, washing their feet. When they put Him on a
cross, think of the things He said on the cross-- Father, forgive them. They don't know
what they're doing. To the thief, today you
will be with Me in paradise. To His mother-- mother,
receive your son. And let John-- thought of His
own mother being taken care of in the future,
which is noteworthy. Because anybody who
has ever suffered physically knows that pain
can be so all-consuming and turn your thoughts almost
exclusively inward on yourself. It's hard for you to think about
others when you're suffering, when you're in pain. So here is Jesus, who
would have every right to be totally consumed with his
own trial, his own execution. But He's thinking of others. The reproaches of those who
reproached you fell on Me. Back in 1896-- I don't expect any of you
here to remember that-- but back in 1896, an
author wrote a book. It became very famous. Still is famous today,
though under another name. The book was called
In His Steps. The author was Charles Sheldon. And it was a story about a
church, a group of believers who made a covenant
with each other that for the next period of time-- I think it may have
been even a year, but it was at least six months-- they decided that they
would covenant together as God's people, that
they wouldn't do anything, that they wouldn't
make any decision, they wouldn't make any action
without first filtering it through the thought,
what would Jesus do. What would Jesus
have me to do here? What would Jesus
have me to do there? It's called In His Steps. Now that spawned the What Would
Jesus Do bracelet movement that were popular. Are they still around today? They still are? They're coming back. OK, so these things
kind of recycle. But that whole idea of what
would Jesus do came from that. And so Paul is
thinking, think of what Jesus did, think
of what Jesus did and what Jesus
would do when you're dealing with your brother
and sister, and some of these dicey situations,
that you're not there to please yourself or exercise
your own personal rights necessarily. So verse 4, for whatever
things were written before were written for our
learning, that we through the patience and
comfort of the Scriptures might have hope. Now may the God of
patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded
toward one another according to Jesus
Christ, that you may with one mind and
one mouth, glorify the God and Father of
our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, receive one another
just as Christ also received us to the glory of God. I've always loved verse 4. I've referred to it often. That everything that was
written in the past-- and from this vantage point, is
everything written in the Old Testament-- that was the Scripture
of Paul the apostle. Those were the Scriptures
for the Lord Jesus Christ, the Old Testament. Everything that was written
in the Old Testament was written for us. This is why I think
churches should teach, not just the New Testament,
but the Old Testament. Because the New
Testament teaches us God wrote the Old Testament
for our edification and our learning. This is why I believe
in teaching through all the books of the Bible. That's why after we're
done with Romans, we'll be in the Old
Testament book of 1 Samuel. And I told you how that I've
gone through this 90 day excursion through
the Scriptures where I have to read the Bible in 90
days, about 15 chapters a day. Kevin, you went through it. A few of you did. And I realized as I went through
it, man, I had forgotten a lot. Even though I'd taught
the Bible many times. There's a lot of parts
I just keep forgetting. And so I'm going-- I'm doing that 90
day plan again. And I kind of realize
there's a few things that I had forgotten about or
that I had never seen before. Now I've read through
the Scriptures for my whole adult life,
and I'm still learning. And all those precious
lessons written. And one of them is
how patient God is. He's called here
the God of patience. God puts up with a lot
when it comes to people. That's one of the lessons I'm
discovering this time through. Man, God is so patient. He's never in a hurry. We are. He wasn't in a
hurry with Abraham. He didn't say, Abraham,
you're going to have a baby, like tomorrow. He let him get to be over 100. God wasn't in a hurry. In fact, the longer God
waited, the more the odds were stacked against Abraham
ever having a child, especially Sarah. She was getting up there too. So the odds were stacked so that
when God finally came through with the promise, it was
unmistakably from the Lord. And God got more glory. God was patient when it came
to bringing Jesus on the scene. He predicted the
Messiah would come. And it says, in the
fullness of the time God sent forth his Son born of
a virgin, born under the law, that we might be redeemed from
the law, Galatians 4 tells us. God was patient. God is patient with you. I know that because
God's patient with me. I have failed him so many times. I've fallen so many times. How many times I've said,
Lord, I'll never do that again. Lord, help me, help me. For some of us,
it's a daily prayer. He's the God of patience. That we, through the
comfort and patience-- patience and comfort of the
Scripture might have hope. He puts up with a lot. Now may the God of
patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded. So if God puts up
with a lot with you, why can't you put
up with some stuff-- scruples, sensitivities,
issues that other weaker people have around me? And then some of us are
saying, no, I just really need to be around more
mature Christians. Either that, or you just need
to act more mature yourself by loving them. That we may with one
mind and one mouth glorify God and the Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, receive one another
as Christ also received us to the glory of God. Now I say that Jesus
Christ has become a servant to the circumcision. That is, to the Jewish
people, the Jewish nation. He came as the fulfillment
of Jewish Scripture. He came as the Jewish Messiah. He came to fulfill the promise
made to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob Joseph, Jacob,
the 12 tribes, David, et cetera, et cetera. He came fulfilling
that, and when He came, He came in Judaism
under Jewish law. He said, I didn't
come to destroy the Law and the Prophets,
I came to fulfill them. Not one jot, not one tittle
will pass from the law 'til everything is
fulfilled, He said. So He came to serve them. Came into line with
the system of Judaism, servant to the circumcision
for the truth of God to confirm the promises
made to the fathers. And that the Gentiles might
glorify God for His mercy. Now he's going to
pull out of the hat several Scriptures that God
made to the Jewish nation. He came to serve them. Christ came to serve them. But also, he mentions the
fact that God's plan always included outsiders,
not just Jewish people. That he wasn't just
the Jewish Messiah, he was the Savior of the world. And in God's mind
and God's heart, Gentiles were
always on the plate. They were always
part of the plan. Now He has already covered
that in 9, 10, and 11. Israel and the church--
we've kind of covered that. But he's just sort of
rehashing that, reinserting that now that He came to
serve Jew and non-Jew. For this reason-- he
quotes now Psalm 49-- for this reason, I will
confess You among the Gentiles and sing to Your name. And again, he says, now
quoting Deuteronomy 32, rejoice Oh, Gentiles, with His people. So the nations--
[NON-ENGLISH] Gentiles-- with His people Israel,
together with them. That's the mystery
of the Church. And again, now quoting
Psalm 117, praise the Lord, all you Gentiles. Laud Him, all you
peoples or nations. And again, Isaiah says--
now quoting Isaiah 11-- there shall be a
root out of Jesse, and He shall rise to
reign over the Gentiles. In Him, the Gentiles shall hope. Here's what's interesting to me. There's a lot of things
that are interesting to me, but one thing that interests
me is that Paul the apostle, when he wrote this, he's, I
believe, just pulling these out of his head, out of his heart. He didn't have a
cell phone to Google, where is that Scripture? He didn't have a concordance
at the back of his bound Bible that he could look
up the verses. I don't think he pulled
the scrolls of Isaiah and the scrolls of the Psalms
out to find where those were. I think he knew those texts. They just came to him. It was a working
knowledge of Scripture. This is the value of reading
through the Bible, and again, and again, and again. This is why we do what
we do on Wednesday night. There is such value in
combing through large swaths of Scripture over
and over again, to just let it soak into you. Because you will find
that when you're cut, you'll bleed "Bibline." When you go through a trial,
it's just what comes out. It's often said, when
you bump into somebody, whatever's inside comes out. It's like when you bump into
a pail, whatever inside, comes out. So if lots of swearing
and cursing come out, that's what's inside. If Scriptures come out and
the will of God come out, that's what's inside. So put that inside. Invest inside you. Put that in your heart. Your Word have I put in my
heart-- stored in my heart, that I might not
sin against You. So I just love the
fact that Paul just had that working knowledge. So the more we know the
Scripture-- when you're cut, that's why I say,
you'll bleed "Bibline." I stole that from Spurgeon. It's not original. Really, nothing is. Now may the God of hope
fill you with all joy and peace in
believing, that you may abound in hope by the
power of the Holy Spirit. Now I myself am
confident concerning you, my brethren, that you
also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge,
able to admonish one another. To me, this is one of the key
verses in the book of Romans. Certainly, it is one
of the key verses in this last fourth section
of the Book of Romans, the practical section. He's writing to
believers, the church. Average, run of
the mill believer in Rome attending a fellowship. And he says, there's something
I believe in about you, and that is you are
full of goodness, filled with knowledge, able
to admonish one another. The word "admonish"
is an important word. It means to instruct or
to advise one another, or to even counsel one another
would be a better translation, better idea. I believe, Paul says,
you as the Body of Christ are able, competent-- in fact, the Williams
translation says, "you are competent to
counsel one another." The Greek word is [GREEK]. And we get the
word, if you've ever heard of nouthetic
counseling, it's something that Jay
Adams wrote books on. He wrote a book called Competent
to Counsel based on this verse, saying that instead of selling
out to secular counselors and secular psychologists,
he believes, according to
Scripture, every gift necessary for the edification
of the Body of Christ is present in every local
expression of the Body of Christ, every church. And that we are competent
to counsel one another. Well, we don't deal
with that here. You're going to have to go
to a professional counselor. No, we have mature people who
can disciple you and get you through this. You know, I truly believe that
people can get through life, no matter what issues they
have, for the most part, through a church,
number one, that teaches through the Scriptures. If you have a Bible teaching
church, and the Word of God is explained, expounded,
unfolded, taught to people so they understand the
principles over and over again, the whole counsel
of God, number one. Number two, you break
that up into small groups. Because sometimes we all
run into hang-ups and messes and complications, and it's
hard to know how to apply the Scripture to our lives. So a small group
really advances that. I would say 90% to 95% of
anything you will encounter in life would be solved with
that two-pronged approach-- large group Bible study
through the Bible, and then small
group application, like our Connect Groups. I believe you'd
be taken care of. Now on occasion, it might get
a little bit more complicated. You need one on one counseling,
one on one discipleship to kind of work through the
issues and unravel things. We understand that. But I believe you're
competent to do that. You're competent to counsel. You can admonish one another. You can instruct one another and
advise because of the maturity level that is here. Nevertheless brethren, I have
written more boldly to you on some points, reminding you
because of the grace of God or the grace given to
me by God, that I might be a minister of Jesus
Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the Gospel
of God that the offering of the Gentiles
might be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. Isn't it interesting
that a Jewish rabbi, a Hebrew of the Hebrews,
Paul called himself, a Pharisee is the
one God chose to be the apostle to the Gentiles? Paul had a very
unique background. I'm not going to
get into it tonight because of the lack of time. I want to get through this. But he says, ministering-- I've been made a minister,
verse 16, and I am ministering, same word, the Gospel of God
an offering of the Gentiles that they might be acceptable,
sanctified by the Holy Spirit. Let me unlock that for you. When Paul uses the
word "minister" here, or "ministering" here,
he uses the Greek word [GREEK].. [GREEK] is where we get
our English word "liturgy." Ever heard of the
word "liturgy"? It's an ecclesiastical
term, it's a church word. It means literally to perform a
public act of service, [GREEK].. It was used of the priests, the
Jewish priests in the temple. They would publicly minister
before the Lord for the people, by sacrifices. That was their
liturgy, their [GREEK].. In the temple,
Gentiles were kept out of that sacrificial process. The priest did not offer the
sacrifices for the nations, but for the people of Israel. Gentiles were kept in the
court of the Gentiles. They didn't participate
in the liturgy. It's interesting that Paul
uses the term liturgy here. It says that, you Gentiles,
who are excluded from God, are made a special
offering to God. That really unravels the
meaning of those verses-- beautiful. Those who are excluded,
God includes, and makes them a special offering. And Paul is the
officiating priest that when he leads
a Gentile to Christ, he's offering that Gentile
as a liturgical sacrifice to God who accepts
that sacrifice. Isn't that beautiful? Think of that when you
lead a person to Christ, when you witness
for the Lord and you lead another person, an
unbeliever to faith in Christ, and you are offering that
person to God as a sacrifice, as part of the liturgy. I love that part of worship. Therefore, I have
reason to glory in Christ Jesus in things which
pertain to God, for I will not dare to speak of
any of those things which Christ has not
accomplished through me in word and deed to make the Gentiles
obedient, in mighty signs and wonders by the power
of the Spirit of God. So that from Jerusalem and
round about to illyricum-- it sounds like a little poem
here, like a little rap-- he's rhyming, from
Jerusalem to Illyricum-- Sorry. My mind goes there when
I see these things. I have fully preached
the Gospel of Christ. Now to me what's
interesting about that is we have no record
in the book of Acts that Paul ever
went to Illyricum. Illyricum is the Albanian
peninsula, Yugoslavia area, those Slavic states-- we have no record of
him ever doing that. But he says, yeah, from
Jerusalem to Illyricum, I've fully preached the gospel. So we ask the question, well,
when did he go over to Albania? And the answer
is, we don't know, but we think it was at the
end of his third missionary journey. He had made his way through
Galatia, through Pamphylia, through Achaea,
through to Macedonia. And when he was in Macedonia,
in Thessalonica, in particular, and he was dealing with
the Corinthian problem, writing letters
to the Corinthians because they're a mess, that he
probably from Thessalonica then went West. Because if you're
in Thessalonica, you take the road,
back then, due west, called the Via
Ignacia, and it takes you right over to the
Albanian peninsula. Probably after
dealing with Corinth, he spent time, went over,
dealt with those in Illyricum, preached the gospel there,
and then he was done. So from Jerusalem, all the
way around about to Illyricum, I have fully preached
the Gospel of Christ. And so I have made it my
aim to preach the gospel, not where Christ was
named, lest I should build on another man's foundation. He really wanted to go
into uncharted territory, really wanted to
establish-- and his ministry was going to be where
there wasn't anything like what he was doing. So he was a true missionary,
taking the Gospel to uncharted areas. But as it is written, to
whom he was not announced, they shall see. To those who have not
heard, shall understand. So that's the Scriptural
precedent from Isaiah 52 for his ministry. For this reason, I also
have been much hindered from coming to you. But now, no longer having
place in these parts and having a great desire these
many years to come to you, whenever I journeyed to Spain-- See, he really wanted to
go where nobody ever went. He wanted to go all
the way to Spain. That was in his heart. We don't know if he
ever made it to Spain. Probably did not,
but he might have. I shall come to you. For I hope to see you on my
journey and be helped on my way there by you, if first I may
enjoy your company for a while. So he'd never been to
Rome, wanted to go to Rome. In fact, he said, heck,
I'm going to go to Spain. And I'm just going to hang out
with you on the way to Spain. Now when I say he might have
gone to Spain, I don't know. Paul the apostle was arrested
in Caesarea, taken before-- spent two years there, went to
Rome where he was imprisoned. He wrote the book
of Philippians, a couple other
books, from there. He was waiting to stand
trial before Caesar Nero. He stood trial. He was released. And then later on,
up to a year later, he was then rearrested,
brought back to Rome, put in the Mamertine
prison, and then eventually taken out
on the Appian Way, and they beheaded him. That's how he died. But if there was a year
between those two arrests, some scholars think that's
when he went to Spain. Of course, he's
writing this never having gone to Rome, hoping
that he's going to get to Rome. But watch this. But now, I'm going to Jerusalem
to minister to the Saints. Now remember what
happens in Jerusalem-- he gets arrested. He will never be a free
man, except for that one little stint after he is
released, and then rearrested. I'm going to Jerusalem to
minister to the Saints, for it pleased those
from Macedonia and Achaea to make a contribution
for the poor among the Saints who
are in Jerusalem. It pleased them indeed,
and they are their debtors. If the Gentiles
have been partakers of their spiritual
things, their duty is also to minister to
them in material things. Remember, Paul took an offering
from Gentile congregations for the poor Christian
believers in Jerusalem who had fallen on hard times. Therefore, when I
have performed this-- that is, gone to Jerusalem,
delivered the financial gift, this offering that
I have collected-- and have sealed them this
fruit, I shall go by way of you to Spain. Remember what James says
in his little book, how he cautions us. He says, come now,
you who say, we're going to go do this and do
that, and go here and go there, and buy and sell and get gain. You should rather say,
if the Lord wills. Now I'm sure that was
in Paul's thinking, and he will understand
God has a different plan. But I know-- verse 29--
that when I come to you, I shall come in the
fullness of the blessing of the Gospel of Christ. Now I beg you, brethren,
through the Lord Jesus Christ and through the
love of the Spirit that you strive together with me
in your prayers to God for me, that I may be delivered from
those in Judea who do not believe, and that my
service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the Saints. That I may come to you with
joy by the will of God, and may be refreshed
together with you. Now the God of peace
be with you all. Amen. He says, pray for me. Pray that it goes well
when I give the offering. Pray that I get delivered
from those people who really want to do me harm in Judea. Pray that I can come just
hang out with you in Rome. Did God answer their prayer? He sure did. He answers every prayer. Paul did go to Rome. Paul did see the church and
was refreshed by the church. But part of this prayer
was answered a little bit differently. He didn't get delivered
from those in Judaea. He got delivered
to those in Judaea. He was then delivered
to the Roman government. They arrested Paul. They put Paul on a
ship, took him to Rome. Paul always wanted
to go to Rome, but Paul didn't want to
go to Rome as a prisoner. That's not in his-- he wanted
to go to Rome as a preacher. But God let him go to Rome
as a preacher and a prisoner. And the Roman government
footed the bill. The government paid for it. I love the economy of God. I'm going to get
you to Rome, Paul, and I'm not going to even make
the Gentile churches-- you already kind of blood them dry
so that you could give money to the folks in Jerusalem,
and you can't take an offering from those in Jerusalem
because they've had such a poor last few years. So I'm going to get you to Rome,
and I'll have Cesar pay for it. And so the way he did that
is Paul was in Caesarea and he goes, you
know, I've gotten the runaround for a couple
of years from you guys, so I appeal to Caesar. And he had the right to do
that, and they put him on a ship and took him to Rome. So he went there by the will
of God, but not as he thought. Now the last
chapter, which we're going to breeze through
tonight, is a chapter most people don't really
spend any time on because it's a list of names. Greet this person,
greet this person. This guy says hi,
this gal says hi. 26 people are named. 2 are unnamed. So we have 28 people altogether. And the great
lesson this chapter shows us is that Paul was not
a Lone Ranger in ministry. He always had a
team, a large team. And if you want to look at the
reason Paul was successful, look no further than the
team that was around him. That's why he was so successful. People supported
and prayed for him, performed all sorts of
other ministerial functions. He had all sorts of workers. Let's just look at a couple of
them as we breeze through this. We don't have time to
really go into depth. You'll meet them
all in heaven, so. I commend to you, Phoebe-- Phoebe's a female name. Now, get this-- she's
first on the list. A woman 2,000 years ago,
written by a Jewish rabbi to a group in Rome, and
first on the list is a woman. There are 9 out of 26 names
are women in this chapter. First on the list is a woman. This stupidity that I've heard-- Paul was chauvinistic
and misogynistic-- betrays a real idiocy,
lack of knowledge, lack of familiarity with
the apostle and the writings of the New Testament. Women were subservient
in antiquity. When a woman got
pregnant 2,000 years ago, people prayed for a boy. Because at least a
boy would contribute to the economy of the family. That's how they saw it. Women were put down. Christianity is
what elevated women. Jesus elevated women. And the nine of the
26 are mentioned here as hard workers in the Gospel. So I commend to you
Phoebe our sister, who is a servant of the
church in Cenchreae, that you may receive her
in the Lord in a manner worthy of the Saints, and a
sister in whatever business she has need of you. For indeed, she has
been a helper of many, and of myself also. Greet Priscilla and
Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, who risked
their own necks for my life, to whom not only I
give thanks, but also the churches of the Gentiles. Likewise, greet the church
that is in their house. Greet my beloved, Epenetus,
who was of the firstfruits of Achaia to Christ. Thumbnail sketch-- Aquilla
and Priscilla were from Rome. He's writing to Rome. They were familiar with them. They were from Rome,
but the Emperor Claudius expelled the Jews
from that region. They ended up in Corinth. Acts, chapter 18. Paul met them in the
synagogue in Corinth. Now here's a little
trivia for you. In the synagogue, it was divided
in the synagogue service. And on one side, sat who, and
who sat on the other side. Men and women-- they were
divided, they were separate. Men sat on one side,
women on the other. But what you may not know
is that the men sat together according to their trade,
according to their occupation. What was Paul by occupation? A tent maker. What was Priscilla and
Aquila by occupation? Tent maker. So they were seated
probably next to each other. Hi, I'm Aquilla. That's my wife over
on the other side. Wave, Priscilla. I'm a tent maker. Oh, Paul, I'm a tent maker too. So they hit it off. The husband and wife
came to faith in Christ, became colleagues
of Paul the apostle, became very important
to the ministry, and evidently started
a church in their home. For the first 200
years of Christianity, churches met in homes. It was very convenient. There were no public church
buildings like we have today. Then the persecution hit, they
were all driven underground. And then after that, emerged
more formal church buildings. Greet Mary, who
labored much for us. Greet Andronicus, verse
7, and Junia, my kinsman, my fellow prisoners who are of
note among the apostles, who also were in Christ before me. Greet Amplias my
beloved in the Lord. Greet Urbanus, our
fellow worker in Christ, and Stachys, my beloved. Urbanus was a common name
for slaves in those days. There were many Urbanuses
as a common name. Urbanus means city-bred. So it was a generic
name usually for a slave who was raised in the city-- city slicker slave. But what's interesting is
in the same verse, Stachys-- that's an uncommon
name, and in antiquity, the only Stachys we
know of is somebody who is of the royal
household of Caesar. What I love is that Paul
puts slave and royalty in the same line. I think he does it on
purpose, to show the evenness that the cross provides. We're all the same at
the foot of the cross. Greet Apelles,
approved in Christ. Greet those who are of the
household of Aristobulus. Aristobulus was--
at least the one we know about-- the
grandson of Herod Agrippa I, which made him the great
grandson of Herod the Great. Apparently, who was
saved at this time. Then verse 11, greet Herodion-- obviously somebody
related to the household of Herod, my kinsmen. Greet those who are of the
household of Narcissus, who are in the Lord. Narcissus was the name
of a well-known, wealthy, influential, raspy,
bad dude, who was the secretary to
the Emperor Claudius, who obviously has repented,
come to faith in Christ. So do you remember when Paul
writes to the Philippians-- I'm trying to speed
through this-- when Paul writes to the
Philippian church, and he says, hey, we greet you. And believers from the royal
household also greet you. Probably referring to
some of these guys. Greet, verse 12,
Tryphena and Tryphosa-- cute name for a couple-- who have labored in the Lord. Greet the beloved Persis,
who labored much in the Lord. Greet Rufus, chosen in the
Lord, and his mother and mine. I'd love to unravel
that, but time's up. So let's just keep going. Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon,
Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, the brethren who are with them. Greet Philologus, Julia,
Nereus, his sister, Olumpas, all the saints
who are with them. Greet one another
with a holy kiss. Don't you miss greeting
each other with a hug? The churches of
Christ greet you. Now I urge you,
brethren, note those who caused divisions
and offenses contrary to the doctrine
which you have learned, and avoid them. This is how you handle
divisive people. Just ignore them. Don't argue with them. Don't send a personal
message back, a tweet back, an Instagram
message back, a text back. Just ignore them. Because here's the thing
about divisive people-- they love the fact that
their divisiveness has got them a voice and a platform. If you don't give them
a voice and a platform, and just ignore them,
it drives them nuts. And I love the fact that
it drives them nuts. That's the fallen nature in me-- knowing that they're
bummed out makes me happy. So pray for me. I have to work on that. [LAUGHTER] Just avoid them. For those who are such do
not serve the Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly--
that is, their own appetites. Probably a reference to
Epicureanism, very common in that era and that time. A philosophy from
Greece, also in Rome. And by smooth words
and flattering speech deceive the hearts
of the simple. For your obedience has
become known to all. Therefore, I am
glad on your behalf. But I want you to be wise
in what is good and simple concerning evil. And the God of peace will crush
Satan under your feet shortly. The sooner, the better. Come soon. Come quickly, Lord Jesus. The grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ be with you. Amen. Timothy, my fellow worker,
Lucius, Jason, Sosipater, my kinsman, greets you. I, Tertius, who wrote this
epistle, greet you in the Lord. Wait a minute! What do you mean, Tertius
wrote this letter? I thought Paul
wrote this letter. Paul did, through Tertius. "Ter-ti-us" or "Ter-shus"--
let's just call him "Ter-shus" so that we don't mess that name
up or think weird thoughts-- Tertius was the amanuensis. Paul dictated the letter. Tertius wrote it down. So now he's just sort of
giving his own little PS, I'm the dude that wrote it. Gaius, my host, the host of
the whole church, greets you. Erastus, the
treasurer of the city, greets you, and
Quartus, a brother. The grace of our Lord Jesus
Christ be with you all. Amen. So he says Amen here a couple
of times, but he keeps going. I can relate to that. Now to Him-- I love this-- now to Him who is
able to establish you according to my gospel and the
preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation
of the mystery which was kept secret since the world began-- that's the mystery of Jew
and Gentile in one group, called and love by
God in a new covenant, but has now been made manifest
and by the prophetic Scriptures has been made known
to all nations, according to the commandment
of the everlasting God for obedience to
the faith, to God, alone wise, be glory through
Jesus Christ forever. And now, he says
Amen, and he means it. OK, we've ended the book. Can I just give you
one closing thought? Do you mind? One closing thought. Verse 25, now to Him who
is able to establish you. That word-- now to Him who
is able is the Greek [GREEK].. It means now to Him who has
the power to establish you. And why am I bringing that out? I want you to see this. The bookends of
this book of Romans, that talk all about the wrath
of God, the grace of God, the plan of God,
the will of God, the bookends are
the power of God. The book begins with power. The book ends with power. In chapter 1, verse
16, Paul says, I am not ashamed of the
Gospel of Jesus Christ, for it is the power, [GREEK],, power of
God to salvation for everyone who believes. Power to save you. Now he ends with power. So the book of
Romans, at the end, here is the encapsulated form. God has the power to save you. God has the power
to sanctify you. God has the power to stabilize
you, to establish you. So what a book, what a treatise
Paul has given to the Romans. Sorry, I-- thank
you for indulging me so I could get all the
way through chapter 16. Didn't want to save
16 for one week. We've gone through
it a number of times and hammered through
all the different names. So I wanted to cover it
all in one fell swoop. And you were awesome
in putting up-- enduring sound doctrine. [APPLAUSE] Would you stand
with me as we pray? Thank you, Father, for this
great brother of ours, Paul. We're going to meet him one day. We're going to meet
the people that he wrote about at the end
of this book one day. In Heaven, we can hear their
story, their back story, how they came to faith. They'll hear ours. But how inspired we are
by the words of Paul, that the greatest of these
is love, that when it comes to dealing with one another-- whether it's music, or
food that we can eat, or days that we worship,
or wearing masks-- we make decisions based on
our love for other people, not on our rights as citizens
or rights as believers. But keeping in consideration
for the weak among us. Thank you, Father,
for this church and these servants of yours who
love and endure sound doctrine. Reward them. May we all have such a
good working knowledge of your Scripture, the
more we add to our faith. In Jesus' name, Amen. For more resources from Calvary
Church and Skip Heitzig, visit calvarynm.church. Thank you for joining us from
this teaching in our series Expound.
